New Jersey Devils blueliner Adam Larsson has been a disappointment at times, especially to those who took the Victor Hedman comparisons a little too seriously.

Still, he finally showed flashes of brilliance once he was “liberated from Peter DeBoer’s prison for young defensemen,” as Puck Daddy’s Greg Wyshynski wrote. Apparently the Devils saw enough to sign him to one of those deals that stands as risky today, but could be brilliant down the line: six years, $25 million.

Again, considering his production at this point, a $4.167 million cap hit seems a little steep. Larsson’s just 22 right now – he’ll turn 23 in November – so it isn’t crazy to ponder a significant leap. Defensemen take longer to develop, after all.

“I think he’s only scratched the surface of the kind of player he’s going to be,” Shero said. “There’s a reason he was drafted when he was. He’s got a lot of experience already. He’s played a lot of ice time on the (penalty kill) and 5-on-5. He hasn’t had the chance to play a lot on the power play, yet.”

Shero believes the contract stands as a “good deal for both sides,” as Larsson gets a long-term deal while the Devils buy three of his unrestricted years.

Ultimately, though, we’ll probably look at it as either an overpay for a somewhat disappointing prospect (selected fourth overall in 2011) or a brilliant steal for a player who finally hits his prime.

In other words, if things work out, the Hedman comparisons might not be so outrageous after all.

The Tampa Bay Lightning re-signed center Vladislav Namestnikov and defenseman Luke Witkowski to one-year, two-way contracts, the club announced Friday.

Namestnikov, 22, was selected by the Lightning 27th overall in the first round of the 2011 NHL Draft. In 43 games with the Lightning this season, he emerged onto the scene by scoring nine goals and had 16 points, and also appeared in 12 post-season games as Tampa Bay made its run to the Stanley Cup Final.

Witkowski, 25, appeared in 16 games for the Lightning this season. He spent the majority of this season with the Syracuse Crunch in the AHL.

The 20-year-old Tampa Bay forward — a healthy scratch for most of the Lightning’s run to the Stanley Cup Final — told NHL.com on Tuesday that he’s determined not to spend any time in the AHL next season.

Drouin was not eligible to play in the minors this past season.

“Nobody wants to go to the AHL,” Drouin said. “That’s not what I’m thinking about right now. I’m thinking about making the team and making more of an impact. Last year a lot of people said it wasn’t my greatest year, but I gained a lot, I learned a lot, and I’m definitely more ready going into the season, into training camp.”

The third overall pick in the 2013 draft, Drouin’s absence from the Lightning lineup was a popular topic of discussion during the postseason. More than once, he had to deny there was a rift with coach Jon Cooper. He denied it again Tuesday, calling Cooper a “good guy” and “a great player’s coach.”

Back in May, Cooper explained the decision to limit Drouin’s role by saying, “There is more than one net in a rink. There’s two. You have to be able to play in front of both.”

Based on that, it seems Drouin’s ability to play a complete game will determine much of his fate next season.

It’s hard to know where this leaves Higgins, 32, who’s heading into the third of a four-year, $10 million deal with a pretty affordable $2.5M average annual cap hit. It’s not a Benning contract; Higgins was extended by Benning’s predecessor, Mike Gillis, and the deal includes a Gillis staple — a no-trade clause (granted, it’s a limited NTC.)

As such, it wasn’t surprising to hear rumors of the Canucks trying to move Higgins. Benning’s already shipped out Gllis-era holdovers like Lack, Kevin Bieksa, Zack Kassian, Jason Garrison, Ryan Kesler and Tom Sestito in his attempt to reshape the club — in that light, it would make sense that Higgins, who had 12 goals and 36 points last year, was dangled in potential trade talks.

The window for the Tampa Bay Lightning to begin contract extension talks with captain Steven Stamkos opened on July 1; however, the two sides have yet to start negotiations.

As it stands, Stamkos has one year remaining on his five-year, $37.5 million deal, which will pay him $5.5 million next season.

“I don’t think we have any criteria on timing at this point in time,” Stamkos’ agent Don Meehan told TSN. “I’ve mentioned to Steve Yzerman that we’re going to have a meeting with Steven, and then once we’ve had the meeting with Steven, then I can go back to Steve (Yzerman).

“He understands that and understands that Steven is in the process of coming back home and getting acclimatized here and getting into his training. He understands the time frame in that respect.”

Stamkos scored 43 goals and 72 points in 82 regular season games last season. He added seven goals and 18 points in 26 playoff games.

The 25-year-old has appeared in 492 regular season games with Tampa scoring 276 goals and 498 points over seven NHL seasons.

“Steven is only a few weeks away from being in the Stanley Cup Final and he’s only just got back to Toronto this past week so he’s going to have an opportunity of getting his feet back on the ground and then coming in and having a discussion with our group in the office,” said Meehan. “Then we would go from there.

“Anytime either management or the player’s side is negotiating a contract or dealing with issues like this, it’s substantive, it’s complicated, it’s detailed and it takes some time.”